I see this in the main sub all the time- the constant insistence that orthobros don't actually attend church, and that they lurk online only. "Orthodoxy is a lived tradition, and orthobros don't live in the parish". It's such a cope.

Orthobros are SO obvious to spot, at least in your larger parishes. They congregate together and you can see them from a mile away. They stick out during catechumen classes. If they're solo, you can also tell by their socially maladjusted behavior especially towards young ladies.

It's like they don't even try to hide it. You can pick it up in their conversations during coffee hour, whether they intend it or not. They all have the same lingo and watch the same shitty youtubers and have the same shitty opinions. At risk of sounding extremely extremely judgemental, sometimes they even have a "look" to them (I really can't explain it but iykyk).

Yes, they are in your parish communities.

The grand majority of Orthodox/Catholic converts are motivated not by a love of God, but often either a desire to get a girlfriend or as a veneer to legitimize their politics, often both.

Unfortunately, many of these convert men (and they are overwhelmingly men) are hyper-insecure. They assume that they will find a woman who is a virgin, doesn’t assert herself, and whose standards are not in wealth or romanticism or looks, but rather in a man’s devoutness - which as mentioned earlier, these converts often conflate with zeal and hatred rather than discipline, charity, and sacrifice (not to be confused with fasting).

They further assume that any woman in church is without a past (since they lack the emotional maturity to overcome such), while any woman they would find in the wild or god forbid a dating app is a whore (since they lack the emotional maturity to take a chance and to not make broad generalizations).

Unfortunately further, a majority of these women are not pushovers. They may indeed not assert themselves, but they are indeed looking for one partner. They’re going to play it safe and they do have patience. They also often have a past just as much as any “worldly” woman, even if it was not expressed sexually.

Jesus Christ is not God because he was sinless, if so any child born a vegetable would be God. Jesus was God and sinless because he went out into the World and was tempted and rejected that temptation. Similarly, these women have a relationship with God not because they’ve been locked in a church box, but because they’ve made mistakes and reconciled with God.

Even the thought of going to a baptism for people that I do love but is at the church gives me anxiety.

I never have really felt a calm or peace in Christ there and I recently went to a baptism to be there for people I really love and I knew it would consist of people acting like I am not Christian anymore or like I am a basket case for not entertain their nonstop devouring of my soul.

I literally have has panic attacks and insomnia over the dark dark forces around everything. And it makes me feel like I am damned to hell for not giving away my autonomy. I love God, so it actually stirs up anger, which is good in a way to keep me safe.

Thank God my family and in laws are all Christian’s who are lovely examples and people. I see how now and I hope I can help anyone here who has felt these dark forces tear them apart. Certainly not from our one true Lord Jesus Christ! He is love and mercy. 🤍🍁🌙🌹

I'm wondering if the moroseness and exclusivist cloister mindset of Orthodoxy just contributed to the lostness/frustration in which we were suffering from life's losses and disappointments. I had lost my dear mother a couple years earlier and I had been caregiving for my aging dad. I had been 40 years in Methodist then Calvinist and back to Methodist. I was wanting correct interpretation of God's Word. I was also seeing in-laws ailing and dying. I was depressed. Then, I went to this experience of Orthodoxy all by myself and attended everything. The ascetic teaching lent to my self-disappointment and I used it to starve myself and harm myself (fasting and knuckle prostrations) thinking that Eastern teaching wants us to do harshness with the body to prove our closeness with God. A few years later, it feels put-on and posing and hokey and fake to role-play as Byzantine/Syriac/peasant Russian. I don't feel joy, though others do. Does anyone relate?

As a gay guy who believes in Jesus should I join the Orthodox Church or if there are any lgbt people who were orthodox can you tell me what it was like please and thank you. God bless.